I'm Not Dead Yet
by BellaWriterChic
Summary: While going to apprehend suspects, Sarah is killed. Six months later, a new agent, Brittany, is helping NCIS after her case at the CIA interferes with theirs. But the longer the team works with her, the more they notice something familiar about her.
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: This is a new story I have been working on for a few days. I thought of this on the way back from Spring Break. I hope you enjoy.  
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters except for Sarah. The plotline is mine. **

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Gibbs and Ziva stopped the cars in front of the building. A lead on their current case led them to an old bar. Their information told them the men inside were armed and dangerous. The team got out and pulled out their guns. They checked their vests before busting in.

"NCIS, drop your weapons!" Gibbs commanded as they surrounded the armed men.

"We will shoot," Ziva added. Slowly, a few of the men put their weapons down. One man decided to press his luck. He turned and shot at Sarah. The bullet hit her thigh and she went down. McGee and Tony restrained the man and took away the gun. The rest of the men stayed where they were.

Ziva helped Tony and McGee take the men out of the building. "We'll meet you at the hospital, Boss," Tony said as they led the men out.

Gibbs ran over to Sarah. The wound was bleeding furiously, despite her efforts to stop it. He could tell she was fading fast.

"Stay with me, Sarah," he told the 22 year-old. He undid his tie and tied it above the wound to slow the bleeding.

"I'm trying, Gibbs." She reached out and squeezed his hand. "I'm trying." She began to lose consciousness.

"Hold on, Sarah. Stay awake," he told her. She weakly nodded and concentrated on staying awake. Her face began to lose color and she was trying harder to stay awake.

She had tears on her eyes. "I don't want to die yet, Gibbs." He held her hand to reassure her.

Soon paramedics rushed in. They pushed Gibbs out of the way and worked to slow the bleeding. They temporarily covered the wound before loading her in the ambulance. One of the young paramedics came up to him.

"You can meet us at Bethesda, sir." Gibbs nodded before climbing into his car and following the ambulance.

He picked up the phone. "Duck, they're taking Sarah to Bethesda. Get Abby and meet us there. Ziva, Tony and McGee should be there soon."

"What happened, Jethro?"

"She was shot while we were trying to apprehend the suspects."

"Oh god. Is she ok?"

"I don't know. She looked pretty bad when they loaded her onto the ambulance."

"We will be right there." He hung up the phone and concentrated on driving. It was a hard task since his thoughts were racing. Gibbs had lost his family years ago. It took him years to get over the loss. Now he had thought of everyone on the team as his children. The thought of losing a member of their close 'family' was an idea he wouldn't accept.

By the time Gibbs got to Bethesda, Tony, McGee and Ziva were already there.

"Nothing yet Boss," Tony reported. He sat down in a chair near Ziva. Gibbs stayed standing until Abby came in and almost knocked him over.

"What's going on? Where is Sarah? Is she ok? Oh my god!" She gave Gibbs a hug. "I'm so worried." She let go and found a seat near McGee. Ducky and Gibbs sat down near the rest of the team. No one spoke until the doctor came out a few hours later.

"Family for Sarah Wallace?" The team sprang up.

"Her parents are out of town for now. We are her closest friends," Gibbs explained.

"I'm sorry to say she did not make it. She lost consciousness from the blood loss and we were unable to revive her. We did everything we could." Ducky walked up to him to talk about arrangements. Abby started to cry. McGee held her while she cried. Tony put an arm around a shocked Ziva while he tried to process the news in his mind. Gibbs excused himself and went to make a call to her parents.

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**AN 2:**** So there is the prologue. I hope you enjoyed that. If you liked Sarah as much as I do, don't kill me. But please do review. Any criticism/feedback is welcome.  
_~This is BellaWriterChic signing off._**


	2. Chapter 1

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**Author's note:**** After much editing and debate. Here is the second installment. I hope that you enjoy it. **

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_Six months later_

Brittany Alexa Madison pulled her auburn hair into a tight bun and looked into the window before climbing into the warehouse. She had the warrant in her back pocket so she didn't have to worry about legal matters. She jumped down to the ground level and started to walk around the floor, checking for anything pertinent to her investigation.

She noticed a man on the ground across the large room and ran up to him. She was unable to find a pulse and then noticed the dog tags.

"Damn," she muttered under her breath. She pulled out her phone. "Millie, it's Brit. We've got a problem."

"What's up?" Millie asked from her desk.

"Got a dead Marine here. You've got to call NCIS in." She wiped her hand over her forehead and stood up.

"Wouldn't they get in the way? We have been working on this for a month, Brit!"

"Remember, I've been here longer than you. I know how they operate. It will be fine. Don't…" A man snuck up behind her and hit her on the head. She dropped her phone and fell to the ground.

"Brittany! What's going on?" The man picked up the phone with a gloved hand and closed it. He looked down at her before setting the phone beside her and left.

Millie was a nervous wreck when she called NCIS. She had no idea what happened to her friend. Brittany had been her best friend and mentor since she ended her training three months ago at the CIA. When Brittany said she wanted to go alone, Millie was skeptical but said nothing. Brittany was the more experienced one. She could handle herself, right? Now, she was mad at herself for not saying anything.

When the team arrived at the warehouse, the paramedics were already on the scene. Gibbs gave Tony, Ziva and McGee their orders before going to talk to Brittany. She was fussing with the paramedics, trying to tell them she was fine.

Gibbs flashed his badge. "Give us a moment, would you?" They walked off. "Special Agent Jethro Gibbs, NCIS."

"Special Agent Brittany Madison, CIA. Thanks for getting them to leave me alone. I tried to tell them I was fine."

"I need to ask you a few questions."

"Go ahead. I will try to answer them."

"What were you doing here?"

"Investigating." She pulled the warrant out of her back pocket. "When I saw the dogtags, I called my partner, Mildred Thompson, to call you. I only checked for a pulse. I did not move him or take anything from his pockets."

She looked over and watched Ducky work. "I think our cases are related."

He narrowed his eyes. "What are you suggesting?"

"We share jurisdiction," she said, ignoring his stare. "We can work out lead later but you guys can get the body and the evidence. Your team is already here anyway."

Gibbs thought about it for a moment. "I can live with that. Are sure you are all right?"

"Thank you for your concern, Agent Gibbs, but I am fine. I have had enough head injuries to know when they are serious." She hopped off the back of the ambulance. The paramedics let her go and packed up. "My place or yours?"

"NCIS will be fine, since that is where the evidence and body will be."

"All right. I'll call Millie and tell her to meet us there with all of our information we know. Does that work for you?" she smiled as she asked.

"That works fine." They each pulled on a pair of gloves and looked around the building.

"Boss, I found a syringe," McGee reported.

"Bag it. Make sure Abby processes it."

"Your team I presume?" Brittany asked, motioning to the team.

He nodded. "We will do the introductions back at NCIS." He turned toward Tony. "Sketches done yet, DiNozzo?"

"Almost boss."

"David, photos?"

"Just finished them, Gibbs," Ziva called from the other side of the warehouse.

"I will call Millie while you pack up." She walked away from Gibbs.

Gibbs walked over to where Ducky and Palmer were packing up the body. "Got a TOD and cause yet Duck?"

"Our young marine met his demise four hours ago. There were no visible causes of death. I'll have Abby run a tox screen."

"McGee found a syringe. Could that have something to do with it?"

Ducky nodded. "It could. I won't know more until I get this fellow on the table."

"Duck, why would the CIA be interested in this place? It seems like nothing has happened here in years."

He shrugged. "Maybe they know something we don't. You should ask her when she gets back." Ducky and Palmer took the body and equipment to the truck.

Brittany pulled out her phone and called Millie again. She picked up immediately.

"Oh my god! Are you ok?"

"I'm fine, Millie. Listen, gather all the info we've found from our current case and meet at NCIS. We're sharing jurisdiction with Agent Gibbs. I have a feeling the cases are related."

"Ok. Are you sure you're fine?"

"Yes Millie," Brittany said. "See you in 45 minutes?"

"I can do that. See you then!" She closed the phone and put it back in her pocket. She walked back over to find Gibbs and the rest of the team packing up.

"Do you need me to grab anything?" she asked, trying to be helpful.

"No, I think we've got it. You can ride with me, since I don't think you drove here." She nodded and started to follow Gibbs to the car.

They got to the Dodge Challenger and climbed in. Before Gibbs started the car, he turned to her and asked, "Why is the CIA so interested in an abandoned warehouse?"

"A lead on a case I have led us here. I came to check it out, but instead found your Marine. I think he is related to my case somehow, but I am not sure what."

"Care to share?"

"We found a letter at the last location with this address. We tracked it and found this place." Temporarily satisfied, he started the car and turned toward the Navy Yard.

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**AN 2: So there it is. Now I would really like to hear what you think. Place a comment by clicking the green button below!  
_~This is BellaWriterChic, signing off._**


	3. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Wow, it has been a long time since I have updated this. I will try to get more up soon. Especially since I had a lot more to get up now! Enjoy this chapter!**

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The drive to NCIS was short but fast. Brittany was gripping the armrests when he pulled into the parking lot.

Gibbs laughed. "What's wrong? Did you not like my driving?"

Brittany brushed out her hair with her fingers and refastened her hair into a low ponytail. "I thought I drove fast! You beat me on that, Agent Gibbs." They both stepped out of the car and into the building. Brittany got a visitor's pass from the front desk and followed Gibbs upstairs. They only found Millie upstairs in the bullpen going through a box.

She looked up. "Brittany! I thought I was in the wrong place." She set an evidence bag back in the box she was going through. "One of the agents downstairs pointed me in the right direction and carried the other box for me." She gave Brittany a hug. "I'm glad you're ok."

Brittany returned the hug. "Thank you Millie." She turned toward Gibbs. "Millie, meet Special Agent Gibbs. Agent Gibbs, my partner Millie."

Gibbs shook her hand. "Gibbs is fine."

"Nice to meet you sir."

They were interrupted by a commotion coming from the elevator. "Tony, I could have driven just fine without wrecking the car." Millie and Brittany looked up.

"Totaling, Ziva. The term is totaling the car. You still drive crazy! Tell her, Probie."

McGee put his hands up. "I am staying out of this."

"You know, sometimes I wish Sarah was still here to settle this." The team went silent after Tony's statement. Brittany looked up and stared at them. "I shouldn't have said that," he muttered.

Gibbs cleared his throat. "Stop arguing. We need to find out who Petty Officer George Branson is."

Tony looked in the girls' direction. "Boss, who are they?"

Gibbs looked back at them. Brittany stood up. "I'm Brittany Madison and this is my partner Millie Thompson. Our case has overlapped with yours."

McGee looked at them strangely. "Who do you work for?"

"CIA," Millie answered. She looked at Brittany.

"We'll be fine," she whispered.

Ziva stepped forward. "I'm Ziva David. This is Tony DiNozzo," she said, pointing to Tony. "Do not let him get on you."

"Do you mean get to me?" Brittany asked.

"Yes, English is not my first language."

Brittany nodded. "I can tell. Maybe sometime we can compare languages?"

"Maybe." She pointed to McGee next to her. "Over here is Timothy McGee." McGee waved.

"I want to know what happened," Gibbs said. Brittany and Millie knelt down and started going through the boxes. "Ziva..."

"Go through photos, got it."

"McGee..."

"Find the petty officer's electronic records, on it."

"DiNozzo…"

"Track down family and friends; got it Boss."

"Wow, how do they know to do that?" Millie whispered to Brittany.

"Probably from just working with him enough," she answered.

"Anyway, what about the evidence Eva hasn't gotten to processing yet? I brought that," Millie said to Brittany.

She looked up at Gibbs. "I take it you're one to be thorough. We brought our evidence if you want your lab tech to process them." Millie pulled out folders while she was talking.

Gibbs thought about it for a moment. The rest of the team was busy working. "Let's take it down to Abby." He stood up and grabbed one of the boxes.

Brittany stood up to grab the other box but was stopped by Millie. "Your eye is red. Is there something wrong with your contact?" She held up a mirror for Brittany to look in.

"You're right. You don't happen to have my glasses from my desk, do you?" Brittany sat down in a desk chair and used an off computer monitor as a mirror. She quickly removed both contacts and threw them away. "No use saving these."

Millie handed her a pair of silver wire-rim glasses. "I thought you would want them later."

Tony looked up and stared. "Your eyes looked different," he said. "They were green before you took out your contacts."

Ziva and McGee both looked up. "Yeah, now they're blue," McGee added.

She shrugged. "I'm not a fan of my blue eyes. I need prescription lenses anyway so I got contacts to change my eye color." Tony closed the gap between them.

"Well I think they look just fine."

She smiled and stepped back. "Thank you Agent DiNozzo."

"Just call me Tony."

Gibbs once again picked up the box. "We should take this down if we want Abby to process it soon." Brittany picked up the other box and followed him to the elevator.

Tony turned to Millie. "Your partner's hot."

She shook her head. "You haven't got a chance, Tony." Ziva and McGee couldn't help but laugh.

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"I get the feeling Tony is often childish."

He shrugged. "He gets the job done."

"Abby would be your forensic scientist?" she asked, changing the subject.

Gibbs nodded. "You might like her. She is different."

"Different how?" The elevator doors opened before she got an answer. Gibbs walked out of the elevator. Brittany followed before the doors closed on her.

Abby had Android Lust playing in the background. She wore her usual attire: high pigtails with a white shirt, a short plaid skirt, tall boots and the usual lab coat. She twirled around the lab before stopping in front of her computer near the microscope.

"Abby!" She turned around.

"Gibbs! You brought me more evidence!" They put the boxes on the table.

"This is from the CIA's investigation. Retest this, would you?"

"Of course, Gibbs." She turned toward Brittany. "Hi, I'm Abby."

Brittany shook her outstretched hand. "Brittany. Nice to meet you."

He motioned toward Brittany. "Come on. We need to see Ducky and leave Abby to her work." Gibbs started to walk out. Brittany waved before following.

"Gibbs, aren't you forgetting something?" Abby called.

"In the fridge," he replied before the doors closed.

Brittany looked at him strangely. "What did you put in her fridge?"

"A Caf-Pow. Abby is addicted to those."

"Oh, like you and coffee?" Now it was his turn to look at her strangely. "An observation." She pointed to the cup in his hand. "You're on your third cup this morning."

Gibbs stopped the elevator. "How do you know all that?" he asked her accusingly.

"Like I said: observations. I learned from my last leader." She glared back through her glasses as strong as he was. She wasn't backing down.

"There is something familiar about you. I just can't tell what." He reached over and turned the elevator back on.

"Maybe there is, Agent Gibbs, but I am not sure what you are talking about." The doors opened on Autopsy level. She exited the elevator. "You coming, Agent Gibbs?"

He walked out of the elevator before the doors closed. Brittany let him walk ahead of her through the sliding doors.

Ducky looked up from the body in front of him. "Ah, Jethro. I was wondering when you would come down." He moved away from the body and threw away his gloves. "You must be Brittany Madison."

She shook his hand. "Nice to meet you, Doctor."

"What have you got for us, Duck?" Brittany looked at them strangely as Ducky walked back over to the body.

"I sent the blood with Mr. Palmer to Abby for a toxincology report. Our guest died of respiratory failure, likely from a poison. I also found evidence of damage to the central nervous system and the cardiovascular system."

"So what do you think we are looking at?" Brittany asked.

"Like I said before, I believe it was some sort of poison. What kind, I am not sure. We will know more once Abby gets the results back."

"Let me know when you have something, Duck." Gibbs turned to leave. Brittany started to follow.

"Ms. Madison, may I speak with you for a moment?" Gibbs looked at Ducky, then at Brittany.

She looked back at Gibbs. "I can find my way back up." He nodded and left Autopsy.

"Come have a seat." He led her to the chairs by his desk. "Something is bothering you," he said to her.

"Is that a question?"

"More of a statement." He poured them each a cup of tea. "Would you like to talk about it?"

"I don't know if I can, Doctor."

"Please, call me Ducky."

She nodded and took a sip of her tea. "It's not that I don't trust you, Ducky. I've tried to forget and move on from what happened, but I am not sure I can. I try to tell someone but when I do, the words don't come out right and I can't seem to say what is on my mind." She stared down at the cup in her hands and took another sip.

Ducky reached out and put a hand on hers. "When you feel that you are ready my dear, I am willing to listen."

She took a breath. "Can you promise me that you won't tell anyone? Especially Gibbs. But I need to tell someone this. I don't know how much longer I can go without telling anyone here."

"Of course. I will not tell anyone." She leaned over and whispered something in his ear. His eyes opened wide. "Why would you want to keep that a secret?"

"When I know more, I will tell you. I promise. It's just now I have to keep this a secret." She pulled her hair back nervously and let it fall again.

Ducky nodded. "Don't worry. You can trust me, Brittany."

"Thanks, Ducky. I really appreciate it."

"Now go, before Gibbs starts to wonder what is going on."

They both stood up. Brittany set down her cup and readjusted her glasses. "Thank you, for listening." She gave him a hug then followed the same path up that she took down.

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**AN 2:**** Here is this chapter. I will add more soon. Please review/critique so I can improve. Thanks for reading!  
_~This is BellaWriterChic signing off_**


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